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Your views on the issues
05.19.06, 00:14:01
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Post #1 (permalink) |
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Just want to get a feel for what the general political leanings are amongst this community. This is just gonna include a number of current political issues (mainly in the United States, since I follow U.S. politics a lot more than I follow politics in the rest of the world); feel free to give your opinions on some or all of them, and feel free to add your own pet issues as well. I'll get around to filling this out in a couple of days; never did like being the first person to post in one of these things, although just from looking at my profile you can probably tell my answers will be pretty left-leaning. 
Abortion:
Affirmative action:
Afghanistan war:
AIDS epidemic:
Budget deficit:
Business fraud (e.g., Enron):
CIA management shakedown:
Corporate liability:
Death penalty:
Defense spending:
Drug policy:
Education system:
Election protection:
Energy sources:
Free trade/NAFTA:
Gambling:
Gay marriage:
Gun control:
Hate crimes laws:
Health care:
Illegal immigration:
Iraq war:
Lawsuits:
Legalize marijuana:
Military draft:
Outsourcing:
Patriot Act:
Prison reform:
Prostitution:
School vouchers:
Secret prisons:
Sex education:
Size of government:
Stem cell research:
Taxes:
Use of oil:
Valerie Plame leak:
War on Drugs:
War on Terrorism:
Warrantless wiretapping:
Welfare reform:
edit: aaaaaand I'ma sticky this. |
Last edited by The Man : 05.19.06 at 00:25:01.
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| If all these topics get discussed in this thread it could get very confusing as to who is talking about what. Also, it takes away the whole point of having a forum for debates really if pretty much all debates get put into one thread. |
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| I have to agree, I could fill up a handful of paragraphs on each of those issues :/. Plus, this thread wouldn't leave much of a discussion about those, I think. |
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well, it wasn't like I was asking people to write an essay on each topic. Two or three sentences would do fine for each.
If you want to start separate threads specifically discussing one, some, or even all of these issues, go right ahead. I feel this is a pretty good sample of political issues to get a general overview of people's political stances, though. |
Last edited by The Man : 05.19.06 at 15:34:48.
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Abortion: Pro choice.
Affirmative action: I find it retarded.
Afghanistan war: A retaliation that eventually turned into a media party. "Oh, look at the good we're doing there. Women are free now!" Seems rather lame.
AIDS epidemic: There is a cure but it's being held back I'm positive. Use protection and better your chances of avoiding it.
Budget deficit: Thanks Mr. Bush.
Business fraud (e.g., Enron): Executives love being pampered. Go to hell. Prison time is the solution.
CIA management shakedown: Not really enough for me to say about this. Sounds rather silly.
Corporate liability: They don't care about your safety. You only get safety courses at jobs because if you get hurt IT COSTS THEM MONEY.
Death penalty: Not for it.
Defense spending: Depends on what it's for. A million dollar jetplane isn't going to help anyone.
Drug policy: Marijuana is alright. Cocaine, heroin, ect is not ok in my eyes.
Education system: Standardized tests prove nothing.
Election protection: With millions of voters and the history of a nation at place I seriously doubt fradulant activity is possible to eliminate.
Energy sources: Hydroelectric is the way to go. 25% of the nations power depends on it but it's only used in meager areas. Water is free and renewable. USE IT.
Free trade/NAFTA: If you move companies over seas. Don't cry when workers come to your country. It's a fair exchange.
Gambling: Have a blast.
Gay marriage: I could care less.
Gun control: 21 years old to purchase including a background check.
Hate crimes laws: Treat it like terroristic threats, nothing more.
Health care: Should be provided at low cost for everyone. Not everyone can afford it. How can you deny people help due to lack of money? Sounds retarded.. But it happens.
Illegal immigration: Pay your taxes and get into the citizenship program.
Iraq war: War for oil.
Lawsuits: Depends on the legistics. Most of the time it's just petty methods of getting easy money. (I.E. woman + mcdonalds coffee incident.)
Legalize marijuana: Go for it. I agree.
Military draft: Shouldn't be forced upon people. Just because you're birthed into a country doesn't mean you want to fight for it. Or SHOULD fight for it.
Outsourcing: No comment.
Patriot Act: Rather useless.
Prison reform: Teach people and treat them like human beings. Prison should be rehab, not punishment.
Prostitution: Legalize it.
School vouchers: No comment.
Secret prisons: Prone to extreme abuse. I don't support it.
Sex education: Up to the parents.
Size of government: Large and voiced. Not small and controlled.
Stem cell research: Yep. I support.
Taxes: Ridiculous but if everyone is paying we all should.
Use of oil: Not wise. Engines need to be made ethanol friendly so less gas is used and more ethanol is mixed.
Valerie Plame leak: No comment.
War on Drugs: Almost like the war on terror. Rather stupid. Who is winning? We don't know lol.
War on Terrorism: Something developed by people who have no brain. I don't support it.
Warrantless wiretapping: Violation of privacy. No way.
Welfare reform: Should be limited for so many years so people can't mooch of the gov.
Lovely. |
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Abortion: Be smart. If you're adult enough to have unprotected sex, take the damn responsibility for what you've done.
Affirmative action: Outdated and unfair. It was needed in a time when minorities weren't accepted into schools or jobs because of their ethnicity, and we needed an effective way to get them in the system. It's been done, we need to get rid of it to make it fair.
Afghanistan war: I don't even give a damn any more. People were all for it right after September 11th, but are magically opposed because it's a war. What the hell were they expecting? It's not like we were going to go in there trying to kill them with kindness...****.
AIDS epidemic: People need to stop trying to "cure" AIDS (because it genetically mutates so fast), and try to find a way to effectively contain infected blood cells.
Budget deficit: Heh..heheheh...hahhahahahahhahaha. Maybe we should start exporting more than we're importing, eh? That would help create jobs, too...whodathunk? *bonks self on the forehead*
Business fraud (e.g., Enron): I don't know much about it.
CIA management shakedown: See above.
Corporate liability: It's smart that they're doing things to save their own asses. I mean, people ARE stupid and will do things to hurt themselves. While I don't think it's right that the company should be blamed for minor things (i.e. falls), they should take some responsibility if, say someone loses an arm or gets a third degree burn. At Starbucks, a girl dropped a hot urn of coffee on a guy's foot and all his skin melted off. While it's the girl's fault, the company should have made urns that were more protective (and they have...there are now lids that screw closed).
Death penalty: I honestly don't care. While it sucks that some people die who are actually innocent, it costs so much money to keep a person in prison for life with health care and all that. If someone is guilty without a shadow of a doubt, kill them...it'll make room in our already crowded jails.
Defense spending: If we do any more defense spending, every citizen will have their own secret service.
Drug policy: Hah. Which drug policy are you talking about? I think marijuana should be legalized for revenue purposes. Should we keep people in jail for posession of marijuana? Hell no! If marijuana were legalized and the three-strike rule didn't apply to pot, our economy would get a major boost. Not only could we tax the hell out of marijuana, but we wouldn't be spending millions of dollars keeping people in prison for posession. (I don't smoke).
Education system: We should do away with standardized testing and realize that all kids are capable at learning different things at varying degrees. For all those who say they wont take an art class because they can't draw; tell me it's wrong for someone to say "I won't take pre-calculus because I'm not good at math".
Election protection: If it were more effective, that would be super awesome. But I don't really care about presidential election protection seeing as how my vote doesn't really matter (thanks to the electoral college and all )
Energy sources: Clearly we are going to need to start using some other forms on a mass scale. I'm convinced that someone has devised a way to use energy more efficiently, but since the government makes a lot of revenue off our current modes, that wont be changed until we exploit the resource fully.
Free trade/NAFTA: I don't really know the pros and cons to it, but I'm sure it's keeping tariffs down in North America thus keeping prices down...Sounds good, but I'm not really well educated on the topic.
Gambling: It's your money.
Gay marriage: If you are against gay marriage, don't marry a gay person! Take up a more pressing matter and stop trying to force your opnions into the lives of others...they aren't forcing you to be gay.
Gun control: I support gun control. The second amendment was created to allow people to lawfully own them for their protection in a time when it was needed. I don't know about you, but I haven't had to shoot many bears lately.
Hate crimes laws: Hate crimes shouldn't tolerated. Then again, it's could potentially escalate to the problems with censorship laws; whenever a crime happens against someone, they could worsen the matter and say it was a hate crime for a multitude of reasons...much like how people can say ANYTHING has offended them and they win a lawsuit.
Health care: Should be nationalized so that the sick can pay for the medical proceedures and attention they need. My grandma didn't recieve the medical attention she required because her insurance wouldn't cover it and she couldn't pay herself...had the doctor not been a *****, SHOWN UP!, given her the proper treatment, she's be fine.
Illegal immigration: I'm so divided on this. I know people who have family who are illegal immigrants, but from a political point of veiw I oppose it. They are allowed to take care of some of our government benefits without paying anything back in income tax...plus whatever money they get is unrecorded and lost to our economy until they spend it. I could go on forever.
Iraq war: It's funny how people supported the "War on Terror" when it was in Afghanistan, but not when it moved to Iraq. Why the hell did they think it was called a war on terror?! America can fight whoever the hell they want! But we can't just pull out of the war right now, either.
Lawsuits: Depends. Some that are because a person was offended by some swear word or whatever is just utter stupidity. You can tell when a case is just stupid and when there clearly is an issue. But someone fire Judge Judy and all her satellite judges, please.
I'll continue my list later. It's time for some South Park!! |
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Welcome to The Church of What's Happenin' Now
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Abortion: Up to the states, not the fed
Affirmative action: scrap it
Afghanistan war: neccesary
AIDS epidemic: use condoms
Budget deficit: thank you Jimmy Carter
Business fraud (e.g., Enron): prison time
CIA management shakedown: scapegoats for bad foriegn policy decisions from 1992-1999
Corporate liability: see business fraud
Death penalty: for it
Defense spending: should be used more efficiently
Drug policy: legalize, tax, and regulate pot.
Education system: it blows, too burreacratic
Election protection: ehhh
Energy sources: need to develop new SAFE sources
Free trade/NAFTA: to hell with NAFTA
Gambling: its cool
Gay marriage: not my bussinness, who cares, let em get hitched
Gun control: no, not at all, does not work
Hate crimes laws: reverse descrimination, it sucks
Health care: its expensive, but our system is the best in the world as far as patient care goes
Illegal immigration: draining the country slowly but surely
Iraq war: botched, but can be recovered. needs to stop being run from washington, like vietnam, and start being run by the on-site commanders, like WW2
Lawsuits: there should be more judicial discretion when it comes to frivolous lawsuits.
Legalize marijuana: see drugs
Military draft: wont happen anytime soon
Outsourcing: occasionaly good, usually bad
Patriot Act: just enlarges the overlarge govt. some more.
Prison reform: prison is punishment people, not a country club.
Prostitution: not a victimless crime. the prostitute is usually the victim.
School vouchers: get out of my life federal govt.
Secret prisons: use what works
Sex education: up to the parents for specifics
Size of government: shared powers between the states and the federal govt. fed needs to be shrunk.
Stem cell research: go for it, 110%
Taxes: unfortunatly necessary due to the hole we have dug ourselves into.
Use of oil: oil is necessary
Valerie Plame leak: its bull**** to burn an agent without damn good reason
War on Drugs: un-winable. you cant defeat an idea
War on Terrorism: see war on drugs
Warrantless wiretapping: in some circumstances, yes
Welfare reform: needs to be reformed pronto
this is just a short breakdown. if you wish for me to elaborate, just ask. |
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Last edited by Zodiac : 05.19.06 at 20:53:53.
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Abortion: I have seen no credible scientific evidence that a fetus is capable of feeling anything until five months into the pregnancy, so before that point I'm completely pro-choice. After that point, I still think abortions should be allowed in cases of incest, rape, or health issues to the mother.
Affirmative action: In scholarships and stuff it's retarded, but there are still employers who employ racial bias when selecting employees. Since those are the only cases in which it's even applied to employee selection, I don't have much of a problem with that kind of affirmative action.
Afghanistan war: I seem to remember the Taliban offering to negotiate with us about having a trial of Osama bin Laden. Granted, it would have been in a world court, but I don't see what's so loathsome about that. Don't get me wrong, I hate the Taliban as much as anything, but I don't really see why this was necessary.
AIDS epidemic: Abstinence-only education programs are retarded. Kids are going to have sex no matter what you get them to say, you might as well teach them to be safe about it instead of just pretending it doesn't happen.
Budget deficit: "The only real difference between the Democrats and Republicans at this point is that the Democrats believe in big, solvent government and the Republicans believe in an even bigger, insolvent government." -Andrew Sullivan
Business fraud (e.g., Enron): They all deserve to fry.
CIA management shakedown: Is just an attempt to cover for retarded foreign policy decisions over the last fifteen years or so. I give blame equally, Clinton ****ed up some as well, but he had a better record on this kind of stuff than Bush does.
Corporate liability: Damned right they should be liable.
Death penalty: Against it. After you cover all the appeals costs and procedure requirements, it's not actually any cheaper to execute people than it is to leave them in jail for the entirety of their lives. More importantly, I've seen no credible evidence that the death penalty is actually an effective deterrent of crime. Death seems a lot nicer than being forced to rot in a cell for the rest of one's life.
Defense spending: Probably around 70% of it is completely unnecessary expenditure.
Drug policy: Lock people up for crimes that actually harm other people. Legalize marijuana and hallucinogens, and focus on giving narcotics addicts treatment rather than punishment. It's also worth noting that drugs such as heroin would pose a much smaller risk of overdose if legalized, since their consistencies could be regulated, although I'm not fully convinced that alone is a good reason to legalize everything.
Education system: Is a bureaucratic ****hole. Give teachers decent salaries and maybe you'll see intelligent people wanting to teach again.
Election protection: Is one of the most vital issues imaginable in a democratic society. I don't believe this country has had a fair election since at least 1998.
Energy sources: We need something other than nuclear or oil.
Free trade/NAFTA: Good for us at home, but terrible for human rights abroad. I think taxes should be imposed on goods imported from regimes that fail to observe, for example, basic human rights standards.
Gambling: Fine by me.
Gay marriage: Fine by me.
Gun control: To a certain extent, it's acceptable. However, it's worth remembering that the real reason the second amendment was included was so that the people, if threatened by the government, would be able to revolt against their government using armed force if necessary. The evidence that gun control cuts down on violent crime is contradictory at best; while it certainly does cut down on gun accidents, those could also be remedied with a better-educated populace. I'm on the fence.
Hate crimes laws: Don't really have any feelings about them.
Health care: Should be nationalized.
Illegal immigration: I don't buy the arguments that illegal immigrants are leeching off the system, because they're also working for fifty cents an hour. We should tighten our border security (which is a lot different from building a ****ing fence), but we should also get rid of some of the retarded citizenship requirements for this country (why does anyone need to pass a history test?), which are the whole reason people are immigrating illegally in the first place.
Iraq war: Perhaps the most grievous foreign policy decision of the last twenty years. It's pretty clear that as a component of the so-called war on terror, this has been an abject failure. I'd like to call it a mistake, but I don't really think it was. Now that we're in, we need to help the Iraqis set up a self-sustaining government as soon as possible, and then we need to get the hell out of there. And while we're at it, I'd like us to withdraw completely from the rest of the Middle East as well.
Lawsuits: Are beginning to take the piss. Judges should have more leeway in throwing these out.
Legalize marijuana: Of course.
Military draft: Hell no.
Outsourcing: Hell no.
Patriot Act: Hell no.
Prison reform: People convicted of property crimes should be rehabilitated. People convicted of violent crimes should be punished. Trying to pretend that one prison system can fulfill both functions is retarded.
Prostitution: Legalize it. When it's legalized, it can be regulated, and when it's regulated, it'll be a hell of a lot safer.
School vouchers: Sure, why not.
Secret prisons: Terrible idea.
Sex education: Should be begun as soon as possible. There's no sense in hiding the facts of life from children.
Size of government: Is beginning to take the piss.
Stem cell research: Of course.
Taxes: Are a necessary evil.
Use of oil: Government should intercede to make certain this is stepped down over the next several years. Otherwise we're headed for an oil crash, and boy, those aren't pretty.
Valerie Plame leak: Fire and impeach the mother****ers responsible.
War on Drugs: Terrible idea, we're losing it, stop it.
War on Terrorism: Maybe we'd convince people not to be terrorists if we stopped fighting wars.
Warrantless wiretapping: We have the fourth amendment for a reason. Fire and impeach the mother****ers responsible.
Welfare reform: Reform corporate welfare (did you see the handouts to the oil companies last quarter?) and maybe I'll start taking you seriously when you talk about this. I'll agree that the welfare program should be designed to help get people off the welfare program, but the amount we spend on individual welfare is miniscule compared to the amount of subsidies and other such handouts we give to corporations. |
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